The Way We Were
by afanoffanfic
Summary: Valentine's Day has Freddie contemplating the time of Seddie. Were he and Sam too quick to call it quits? Seddie one-shot.


A/N: I know; you're all waiting for the punch line aren't you? Surely a _Seddie_ ficlet didn't emerge from my virtual pen…Yep. It did. Sort of. I've recycled the line "Roses are for daffodils" from my Spam fic _That's How iRoll_. This one shot is unrelated to that story. Of course, I did not create, nor do I own any rights to Mater. Neither Freddie nor I composed the lyrics to "The Way We Were," which was written by Alan & Marilyn Bergman and scored by Marvin Hamlisch. I knew about the Sankofa bird before writing this story, but did NOT know about its second version. Thanks to Wikipedia, now I do. Woo Hoo for Wikipedia! Everyone who loves free information should give them thanks.

o O o

"Why am I the only one who ever has any money?" Freddie grumbled as he paid for the take-out Chinese.

"Dunno," Gibby replied distractedly as he dug through the basket of fortune cookies at the counter. Selecting one, he unwrapped it carefully, cracked it open and stared intently at the message inside. Wrinkling his brow, he handed the fortune to Freddie. "Umm…what do you think this means?"

Freddie found himself looking at a drawing of a coin. Flipping it over, the message read "Save penny."

"Well _that_ one is right on the money," he agreed sourly. "They want you to _save_ money Gib. Really great advice from where I'm standing."

Gibby brightened. "Wow! I didn't know that pennies were made in China. Did you know that? 'Cause I didn't know that. Sure, lots of _other _stuff is made in China, but who woulda thought –"

"Gib – pennies aren't – Oh never mind." He handed the bag to Gibby with a sigh, turning to leave the restaurant.

"You didn't get your cookie," Gibby pointed out at once. "You _have_ to get a fortune cookie. It's the best part."

"I don't believe in fortunes Gibby. Can we just get going before the rice gets cold? Cold rice is just – yuck."

"Not without your cookie. You _have_ to get a cookie," he repeated firmly, as though speaking to a recalcitrant toddler. "It's bad luck not to get a cookie."

"I don't believe in bad luck either! Bad luck is just another way of saying that Sam – Chizz! Now see, you made me go and think about Sam. Let's get out of here Gib."

"Bad luuuuuck…" Gibby repeated smugly.

"Fine!" Freddie growled. "Getting the cookie." He rummaged through the basket and grabbed one at random, shoving it in his pocket. "Now let's GO."

"You have to _open _it Freddie. That's the way it works," Gibby insisted.

Rolling his eyes, he reluctantly retrieved the cookie from his pocket. "See? I'm opening the cookie. I'm reading the fortune…" A puzzled look crossed his face. Turning the message over did nothing to improve his understanding of the odd-looking bird pictured there. It appeared to be turning backwards to pluck an egg from its back. The single word "Sankofa" meant nothing to him.

"Well, what does it say?" Gibby demanded impatiently.

"Just hold on a sec; I'm not really sure what this is." Whipping out his phone, Freddie typed the word in. Skimming the results, his eyes narrowed and he glanced at the man standing behind the counter.

"This isn't even Chinese," he accused. "It's African. Why is an African symbol on a Chinese fortune?"

The man shrugged helplessly. "Sometimes, run out."

"You _run out_ of Chinese wisdom?"

"Is good," the man insisted emphatically. "Good fortune."

Gibby looked over Freddie's shoulder at the Sankofa bird. "You're supposed to buy a bird?"

Freddie shook his head. "This is a Sankofa bird. It's an African symbol that loosely translates to _go back and get it._"

"Go back and get what?"

"A most excellent question Gib. It says here that this symbol is also associated with a proverb that means _it is not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten._"

Gibby blinked. "I don't get it."

"It means you shouldn't go forward without looking back."

"I still don't get it."

Freddie cast about for an analogy that might make it through the Gibby zone. "Think Mater, Gib. Mater is the world's best backwards driver. He doesn't need to watch where he's going – he just needs to know where he's been."

"So you're supposed to….walk backwards?"

Freddie laughed. "Something like that." He turned back to the cashier. "You know, I don't actually believe in fortunes. But if I _did_, I might be inclined to believe in this one."

"Good fortune," the man replied. "Always good fortune."

"Some kind of serendipity that I picked this one, I guess," he mused, his eyes widening as he scrolled farther down the list of search results. "Gib, check this out. There's another version of the Sankofa symbol."

"That's not a bird, man. It's a heart."

"Yeah. It is…and I think I'm supposed to go back and get it."

o O o

"You're crazy man! I mean, if you were still hot for _Carly_, it might work. She lives for that stuff. I'm tellin' you though, Sam's gonna take one look at that candygram and grind it under the heel of her Daka hightops," Gibby pronounced with authority.

"Nuh uh," Freddie grunted in reply. "Odds are better than even that she'll at least eat the candy first."

"So what? The gram's still Swiffer ®bait. No way she even _opens_ it to see who sent it." Nodding his head sagely he continued, "I'd put money on it. Except…you know, I don't have any."

"Gib, I've got a new theory," Freddie replied as he worked on his message. "Sam and I - we thought we were too different, so we tried to be more alike. She came to the train club; I went to the jail… That didn't work out so well. Actually, it didn't work out at all. When it didn't work out, we thought – that's it then. We gave it the old college try, couldn't find that common ground, and decided to go back to The Way We Were. The thing is, we didn't get together in the first place because we were the same, right? Right. And have you seen Sam with anyone else since we broke up?"

"No…" Gibby replied cautiously. "But you don't _really_ want to get back together with Sam do you? I mean, when you two are together, Sam beats on –"

Rolling right over him, Freddie continued "And _I_ sure haven't been out with anyone else since we broke up, right? Right. And the _reason_ neither of us has been out with anyone else is that we _really _just want to be together, right?"

"Right?" Gibby responded half-heartedly.

"Right. So I've run the scenarios, and I'm pretty sure that I can get Sam to see that she's rewinding to the wrong Way We Were, and just like that Sankofa bird I had in my fortune cookie the other day, we need to take what was good from the past and roll with it."

"And you're going to do this how, exactly?" Gibby asked skeptically.

"Just what I said. I'm going to rewind to a different place. I'm going to treat her like she _is_ my girlfriend. I'm going to make it so." Finishing the note with an approximation of the Sankofa heart, he signed it "Love, me." He handed the candygram to the student manning the table – "5th period – Briggs' class," he instructed.

Stepping away from the table he nodded to the next boy in line. "Hey Kurt."

Kurt mumbled something in reply, digging in his pocket for loose change. Counting out nickels and pennies, he shoved the pile forward in payment for his candygram. The girl rolled her eyes but accepted the coins without comment.

"Spends the same doesn't it?" he asked defensively.

Mutely she handed him a red construction paper heart and he set to work on his Valentine message.

o O o

Sam slouched in her chair as yet another pile of candygrams was deposited on her desk. Freddie's eyebrows shot up and he glanced at Carly in surprise.

"Duke," she replied by way of explanation. "He's been sending them all day. Sam's about ready to knock his head off, I think."

Freddie turned to look at the wrestler, whose eyes were fixed on Sam with a hopeful puppy dog expression. "What's Habberman doing sending candygrams to Sam?" he tossed back to Carly.

"Didn't you hear? They were both in line for breakfast this morning when Nolan McGuire said something to Sam about it being a good thing that Sam dumped your sorry – er, a good thing that Sam dumped you, so that now she's available to date a real man. Sam had Nolan in a head lock so fast that Duke was ready to nominate her for captain of the wrestling team. He's been following her around ever since."

"_That's_ interesting."

Carly laughed. "I know, right? I can't imagine what he's writing on all those candygrams."

"Not the part I meant," Freddie muttered.

Ms. Briggs stopped in front of Sam's desk and picked up a heart. "My **favorite** day of the year. Let us see whether any of you have actually managed to construct a proper sentence. The drivel that normally accompanies these declarations of love sickens me. I despair of any of you ever becoming competent wielders of verse. Hmm… another excellent example. _Roses are red. Violets are violet. You're freaking awesome. I'm glad we met. _ How sweet."

Duke perked up, a proud smile on his face. "I wrote that myself, Ms. B.," he called out excitedly. "Pretty good stuff, huh?"

"Indubitably, Mr. Habberman. I'm sure Ms. Puckett is suitably impressed, as are we all. Speaking of, Ms. Puckett, will you please remove these items from your desk so that we can continue class without further interruption? "

"Delighted, Ms. Briggs," Sam snarled. Plucking the candy kisses angrily from the paper hearts, she lined them up in a row on the edge of her desk. After methodically stacking the hearts in a pile, she crumpled them in a wad of red and pink and stuffed them in her pocket.

"Thank you Sam. Moving on –"

"Hold your horses there Ms. Briggs. I'm not done yet."

"Finished, Samantha. _Food _is done. People are _finished_," Ms. Briggs snapped.

"Whatever you say." Studying potential trajectories, Sam nodded and started flicking candy towards Duke's head.

"She's a pretty good shot," Carly commented as several found their marks with satisfying thunks.

Duke picked them up sheepishly. "My kind of woman, people! You know it!"

"In your dreams Habberman," Sam spat, aiming the last candy kiss precisely at Duke's eye.

"NOW I'm finished, Ms. Briggs," Sam said with satisfaction as a startled "OW!" accompanied the delivery.

"How generous of you to save some class time for actual instruction, Sam. I'm sure we all appreciate it. Now, if you will please open your books to page 213…"

o O o

"Told you," Gibby said complacently. "The candygram is history."

"Yeah, well, how was I to know that Habberman had been showering her with hearts all day? It's ok though. I've got another idea. You know Casey Martin? She makes jewelry – hand strung necklaces and stuff like that. A lot of the girls have them. Anyway, I showed her what I want and she's going to make one for Sam. Instead of a medallion, it's going to have a Sankofa heart." Freddie sat back, awaiting applause.

"You're going to give Sam… a necklace? With a _heart?_ Are you crazy? I _told_ you Fred; this is stuff Carly would like. It's _girly _stuff. It's not **Sam** stuff. "

"Yeah, but even Sam likes to know that I know she's a girl," Freddie pointed out. "Right?" This last came out a little doubtfully.

Gibby shook his head. "I don't know man; I can't really see it but, hey, she's your girlfriend. Or whatever. Umm…since we're talking about girlfriends, I have to go pick up the roses I ordered for Tasha but…"

"Let me guess. You don't have any money."

"How'd you know?"

"Lucky guess."

"Yeah, can I borrow 80 bucks?"

Freddie choked. "Eighty? Good grief – did you order her the whole shop?"

"No," Gibby replied indignantly. "But I don't want her to think I'm cheap. I ordered a _premium_ arrangement."

"You ordered her a premium arrangement with sub-prime funds," Freddie corrected.

"Aww, come on Freddie. I'm good for it. Don't I always pay you back?"

"I guess. Come on; let's go. Maybe I'll get another idea for a good gift for Sam."

"Gibbaaaay…" echoed down the hall as they headed for the door.

o O o

Sam emptied her pockets of several dozen construction paper hearts. Separating the individual cards, she began rolling each into a ball, which she promptly shot into the wastebasket. "Roses are red." Toss. "Violets are violet." Toss. "You're freaking awesome." Toss. "I'm glad we met." Toss. "My kind of woman." Toss. "You're the WO-MAN!" Toss. "Liplock?" Toss. "Headlock?" Toss. "Aww…come on Sam!" Toss. "_Memories, like the corners of my mind. Misty water-colored memories of the way we were…"_

She froze, staring at the handwriting. Slowly she smoothed the crumpled paper down, following the words as they curled around the heart-shaped card. "_Scattered pictures, of the smiles we left behind. Smiles we gave to one another for the way we were." _Hesitantly she opened the card to read the rest. "_Can it be that it was all so simple then? Or has time re-written every line? If we had the chance to do it all again tell me, would we? Could we? Memories, may be beautiful and yet what's too painful to remember we simply choose to forget. So it's the laughter we will remember whenever we remember…The way we were."_ She flipped the card over and saw that he wasn't quite finished. "I miss you. I miss the way we were. Normal - abnormal – those are just words. They don't matter. _We_ matter. Will you be mine again? Love, me."

Rising from the bed, Sam carefully affixed the card in the corner of her mirror.

"I miss you too…" she whispered.

o O o

Gibby led the way into the florist's stall at the Farmer's Market, waggling his eyebrows at the clerk. "Hi Rosalinda, I'm all set to pick up Tasha's roses."

"And I'm all set to give them to you," she replied cheerfully. "As soon as you pay for them."

Gibby looked affronted. "Rosalinda, I _always_ pay for my purchases."

"Yes Gibby, but you need to pay me for them _today._ It _is_ Valentine's Day, and I'm sure there are other customers who would love to have this beautiful arrangement. Maybe this nice young man here?" She nodded towards Freddie.

"Oh no Rosalinda – he doesn't want any roses. His woman doesn't like roses."

"Doesn't like roses? Oh, I doubt that," Rosalinda laughed.

"Actually," Freddie interjected, "I think I'd like two."

"Just two?" Rosalinda asked curiously.

"Fred," Gibby warned, "Roses are for daffodils…"

"Two," Freddie replied firmly.

Bemused, Rosalinda wrapped them up for him.

"Thank you," he said politely. "I'll be picking Gibby's up too."

"Gibby!" the woman scolded.

"What are friends for?"

"Evidently they're for buying _your_ flowers when you have no money. Maybe I should sign his name on the card?"

"No!" Freddie and Gibby protested in chorus.

"No ma'am. Please just give Gibby his roses."

"The customer is always right," she agreed amiably. "I hope the ladies enjoy their roses. Happy Valentine's Day!"

Poised to leave the stall, Freddie looked up to see Kurt hovering nearby. "Hey Kurt, buying some flowers for your girlfriend?" he asked politely.

Scuffing his feet, Kurt refused to meet his eyes. "Can't afford it, can I?" His voice was resigned as he looked over his shoulder. Freddie followed his gaze back to the pretty ginger-haired girl waiting patiently on a bench. One hand clutched a red paper Valentine. The other rested softly on a decidedly round belly.

"Hey Fred," Gibby complained from a stall away, "These flowers are kinda…awkward to carry. Are you coming?"

"Yeah, you go ahead Gib. I'll be right there." He grabbed Kurt's arm and moved him a short distance down the aisle. "Kurt, I really…don't need these roses. Besides that, I have to help Gibby with his stuff and I have to make a stop at the butcher's counter before I leave. You'd be doing me a favor if you took them off my hands; I'm not going to be able to carry everything, and –"

"Look Benson, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but I don't need you to feel _sorry _for me, and Amber sure doesn't want anyone feeling _sorry_ for her."

"It's not about being sorry for anyone Kurt. I just think … every girl's a princess, even if she doesn't feel like it, and it's our job to remind them. So _take_ these roses and go remind her. Ok?" He pressed the flowers into Kurt's hand and strode rapidly away.

At the butcher's stall, Freddie leaned against the counter.

"Help you Son?"

"Yes, sir. I need a whole honey-glazed ham. To go."

o O o

Freddie passed Kurt and Amber on his way back to the parking garage. Sitting on a bench waiting for the bus, Amber clutched a bag of fresh fruit and two long-stemmed roses. Catching Kurt's eye, Freddie gave a small wave. Kurt smiled. He lifted Amber's hand to his lips for a kiss before leaning to whisper something in her ear. Freddie turned away. He had a princess of his own to woo.

"It's about time! I thought you forgot where you parked!"

"Relax Gibby. I'm here now."

"I see you ditched the roses. Good call. What'd you get instead?"

Freddie grinned. "A honey-glazed ham."

"Another good call," Gibby approved. "So no necklace, right?"

"Actually, I'm still going to give her the necklace when it's ready."

Gibby shook his head. "I thought you were finally learning. You said you were going to quit trying to make her into someone she's not."

"Indeed I did. I'm not going to ask her to be someone she's not. At the same time, I need her to let me be who I am. And who I am wants to remind her how I feel about her. Gib, that fortune really was a good fortune. It told me to go back and get her. I'm still going to give her the necklace –_ with_ the Sankofa heart, because that heart is a reminder of the way we were. It's a reminder to take what we had that was good and carry it forward. I know Sam's not a girly girl, and I love her the way she is. Ham. Remember? But I can still let her **know** that I love her. And that's ok too."

"Amen," Gibby added fervently. 

o O o

Sam opened the door before Freddie could knock. She eyed the ham resting in one arm, but put it out of her mind. There would be time for ham later. For now, she had other priorities.

"Hey Princess," his tone was light and teasing. "I brought you something –"

Silently she grabbed his shirt and pulled him towards her, planting a kiss on his lips. When she let him go, the single word "Sorry…" lingered in the air between them. Her eyes flickered as she continued, "You know Freddie, I really missed –"

"The way we were," he finished. Sam took his hand and dragged him inside.

o O o

Have _you_ lost a heart? Well go back and get it! Happy Valentine's Day…


End file.
